What: Online and retail "brokerage house" for
used cardboard boxes and plastic binsWho: Marty Metro, founder of BoomerangBoxes.comWhere: Los AngelesWhen: Started in 2003

When Marty Metro and his wife added up the number of times each
of them had moved over the years, it came out to an astounding 29
times. Metro, 34, knew they weren't alone in using massive
amounts of cardboard boxes and was convinced he could help movers,
businesses and the environment by creating a solution to the
cardboard quandary. Says Metro, "I'm a systems guy; my
life revolves around using technology to enable business
processes."

With a decade of experience working and consulting on
large-scale business technology, Metro made it his goal to build an
online marketplace that would allow big companies to get rid of
their used boxes and scraps in an earth-friendly way, as well as
offer companies and individuals the opportunity to buy used
cardboard boxes at roughly half the price of new ones. Leaving the
lucrative corporate life he had known, Metro traded in his BMW for
a delivery truck and developed the web-based infrastructure that
would help him fulfill his earth-friendly goals.

BoomerangBoxes.com, a U-Haul authorized dealer, has also netted
contracts with large booksellers, clothing importers, manufacturers
and even some real estate firms to pick up unwanted cardboard.
Local deliveries are made to those who purchase cardboard boxes
(the company also sells moving supplies), and when the move is
done, BoomerangBoxes.com will pick up the used boxes.

Currently covering the area between Los Angeles and San Diego,
the company plans to expand by franchising in the top 50 cities in
the United States in the next three to five years. For now,
BoomerangBoxes.com offers an online exchange for those outside the
delivery area to link up and exchange boxes with others for a
nomi-nal fee. With 2005 sales projections exceeding $750,000, the
company boasts 75 percent-plus gross margins. "It makes me
feel great," says Metro. "We have created a win-win
environment."
--April Y. Pennington

Healthy Returns

What: A service that acts as an advocate between patients
and their insurance companies and doctorsWho: Michael J. Cardillo, Dr. Abbie Leibowitz, Tom Masci,
David Rocchino and Martin Rosen, co-founders of Health Advocate
Inc.Where: Blue Bell, PennsylvaniaWhen: Started in 2001

Navigating through myriad health claims, insurance companies and
doctors' offices can truly make people crazy. Knowing that the
typical employee usually doesn't have the extensive medical or
insurance know-how to get the services they need, these five
entrepreneurs created Health Advocate Inc. The company provides a
wide range of services, from recommending doctors and negotiating
claims to coordinating medical administrative tasks and finding
second opinions.

The company's founders--five former Aetna U.S. Healthcare
employees, including Cardillo, 61; Leibowitz, 58; Masci, 59;
Rocchino, 46; and Rosen, 58--knew that a service offering impartial
information to ensure top-quality health care was needed. Says
Rosen, "The issue wasn't, Does this make sense? It was,
Can you make any money at it?" To find out, they did a beta
test in the summer of 2001.

The overwhelming response from their research was yes, people
absolutely needed their services, and yes, they'd find a way to
pay for them. So the team started selling the service, which costs
between $1.25 and $3.95 per month, per employee, to employers as a
time- and money-saving health benefit for their employees and
covered dependents. Health Advocate's services save employees
the headaches of dealing with health-care snafus, which often
distract them during work hours. In turn, employers are provided
with a more focused crew.

Today, having contracted with companies all over the United
States, Health Advocate supports more than 3 million people and saw
sales exceed $4.5 million in 2004.
--Nichole L. Torres

Now They're Cooking

After Helane Cohen lost her mother in 2000, the time she spent
alone helped her identify the two things she loved most: children
and cooking. It was then that this tech executive decided to leave
behind a six-figure salary and launch Le Petit Cookery, a cooking
school for children. Three months later, Cohen, 40, brought in good
friend Steven Soto, 42, as her chief advisor--having worked with
him in the past, she knew he could offer invaluable small-business
skills.

Le Petit Cookery teaches children everything from how to use
cutlery to healthy eating and proper etiquette. Today, the business
consists of three branches: after-school programs for
elementary-school children; private cooking parties, special events
and classes at requested locations; and a website that
sells cooking products for children. While the programs teach
children how to cook, they also encourage safety, fun, teamwork and
healthy nutrition. Le Petit Cookery's "Around the Globe We
Go" after-school program, for example, highlights
international foods and ingredients, such as Polish pirogis,
dumplings filled with cheese or meat that the kids make by
themselves--with some help from assistants, of course.

Le Petit Cookery now serves more than 18 public schools in the
Orange County, California, area and five to six private schools per
semester, with multiple classes at some schools. Thanks to
word-of-mouth, presence at community events and advertising in
local children-focused publications as well as on search engines,
Le Petit Cookery has experienced 75 percent growth over the past
year.

As Cohen settles comfortably into growing her business, she
shares one of the sweeter sides of success: "The kids will
make the exact same thing and follow the exact same recipe.
What's hysterical is that each batch will always look
completely different."
--Esther Nguonly

Game of Life

What: Nonviolent computer games that challenge kids with
real-life obstacles rather than shootings and explosionsWho: Victoria Gatling of MVG Christian Entertainment
Inc.Where: ChicagoWhen: Started in 2003

Victoria Gatling, 36, started to notice a disturbing trend in
her family's funeral-home business: "They were burying
more and more young people, [victims] of so many violent, senseless
crimes." Believing there was a connection between those
violent crimes and today's video games, this mother of
game-loving children decided to take matters into her own
hands.

Starting with $50,000 from friends, family and personal savings,
Gatling, a former marketing representative, developed software
without high-octane explosions, vulgarity or murder. Her pioneer
game, Obstacles of Life, features David, a character facing moral
stumbling blocks. The deceptive characters wear street clothes
"because I want the kids to know that the devil is not a man
in a red suit with horns," says Gatling, who's since
authored more than 35 games.

When high programmer fees broke her budget, Gatling and her
daughter Latrece, 18, took on the task, learning to program from
home. Help also came from Kameakea Longmire, a friend who assisted
with the programming. Pregnant with twins at the time, Gatling
relied on her husband, Marcus, 35, and Latrece for support.

Gatling persuaded pastors to let her present the games to their
congregations. Many parents, unaware of the violent content of
games prior to her presentations, jumped to try the $14.99
alternatives, which are currently sold nationwide via phone and
online orders, as well as regionally at church conventions.
Year-end 2005 sales are expected to range between $500,000 and
$600,000--Gatling is in talks with Wal-Mart stores and plans to
pitch electronics boutiques and game shops later this year.
--Jessica Hong

Garden State

While caring for his own garden, Lars Hundley had a vision of
protecting the world's gardens as well. So this former
freelance writer put down his pen, bought six push lawn mowers for
$100 each and began CleanAirGardening.com, which sells
environmentally friendly gardening products, such as gas-free push
mowers, organic fertilizers and electric trimmers/weed-eaters.

To cut costs, Hundley used his cell phone as a business line,
built his own website and sold mowers from his apartment. He made
his share of mistakes along the way, from overspending on
ineffective advertising to stocking too many mowers in his
apartment. When CleanAirGardening.com began to take off, the
business initially suffered because it wasn't set up to accept
credit cards. Hundley solved that problem by hosting his site
through Yahoo! Stores and letting them handle the secure credit
card transactions.

Hundley, who now works from an office in his three-bedroom home,
expects 2005 sales to hit $1 million. Yet his focus is less on
profits and more on finding new environmentally safe products and
educating customers about the importance of conservation. In
addition to promoting eco-friendly products such as rain barrels
and reel mowers, his site offers a comprehensive list of websites
that teach people about healthy gardening practices.

"I don't know how many of my customers I am converting
to an environmentally friendly lifestyle," says Hundley, 35.
"But judging by how many questions I answer from people who
have never composted, collected rainwater or used a reel mower
before, I think I am certainly making a difference."
--E.N.